Arsenal on brink of signing £22m rated star as club sign replacement midfielder

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Arsenal are reportedly close to sealing a £22million deal to sign Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira.

The 22-year-old is in Uruguay’s squad for Russia 2018 and is said to have attracted interest from Liverpool, Everton, Juventus and Napoli.

And reports in Italy claim that a path has been cleared for his exit after Sampdoria clinched a deal to sign Lokomotiv Zagreb’s Lovro Majer as his replacement.

Torreira has a 25m euro (£22m) release fee which the Gunners are said to be close to triggering.

Torreira is a defensive midfielder who left his homeland to sign for Serie B outfit Pescara five years ago, before then moving to Sampdoria at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

Arsenal are trying to get their business done as early as possible with international stars heading to Russia 2018.

And Torreira could be tied up for the next six weeks if Uruguay have a good run at the tournament.

The Gunners are poised to sign Borussia Dortmund centre-half Sokratis Papastathopoulos in a £16m deal.

New boss Unai Emery has agreed to the Greek international, 30, becoming the second part of a major defensive overhaul.

Head of recruitment Sven Mislintat knows Papastathopoulos from his time as Dortmund’s chief scout and has used the link to lure the former AC Milan star to London.